I am an introvert by nature. A huge one! In fact, I often dont even like being with people. I'd much rather spend times with my dogs. But yet, I find myself in this business of art festivals, where being an introvert is basically your ticket home with zero sales. I work hard every single second at festivals so that no one person (not patrons or other artists) knows that I am anything but a person who loves people. That is why I was so shocked that this past weekend I had not one, not two, not three, but FOUR people come BACK to my booth to tell me thank you for being so kind, friendly, or patient. One man told me that he hoped I had a wonderful show and that he would see me there again next year as I was one of the only artists who was nice to him. He even said that a lot of artists ignored him, and a few even acted like he was a burden to them by being in their tent and asking questions about their art. One man was not 100% mentally there, and I could tell he didn't have money to buy anything, but man you better believe he called every person he knew and told them about "this awesome girl with amazing artwork you gotta check out!" (his words, not mine) Even though I knew he wouldnt be a sale, what did it hurt by me making an effort to be kind? Nothin!
People!!! Come on! Where is the kindness? Where is love and compassion? The patrons are the ones allowing you to continue doing something that you love to do. Keeping you out of a droning 8-5 job that you hate. We need these people! And they need us to make them feel a connection and bring a spark of something to them! If I, the introvert that I am, gets FOUR people to make an effort to thank me for being nice, I know there is a serious problem.
And no, 3 out of 4 of those people didnt buy anything this time. And the one who did, just bought a small print (probably just b/c I didn't make him feel like a half rate person). But you know, they signed up for my mailing list and liked me on Facebook. And they will remember me for a good reason. And maybe next time, they will buy something. But even if they don't, I made them feel good, and isn't that most important?
